Minutes of Resurrection Parish's Pastoral Council Meeting September 19, 2017 I. Meetings of the Committees of Council: The business meeting was preceded by the Committees of Council meeting in the church hall for one hour, beginning at 6:15 PM. II. III. IV. Call to Order and Opening Prayer: Bryan Hodos, chair of the Pastoral Council, welcomed those in attendance and called the business meeting to order at 7:30 PM. Father George opened the meeting with a prayer. Neither Bryan nor Father George had any opening comments. Roll Call: Present: Fr. George, Barb Dryzal, Ray Gorman, Mary Hanners, Bryan Hodos, Jeff McKissick, Rick Pavic, Michele Rager, Larry Sestrich, Joe Strihan, and Faith Thomas. Excused: Tom Elias. A quorum was present. Five parishioners, the parish manager, and the recording secretary were also present. Approval of the Minutes: The September 2017 minutes were approved with no changes. V. Status of the Standing Committees: a. Activities i. There will be no wrap-up meeting for Summerfest 2017, however the various chairpersons will be updated with the details of the event. The profit from the festival was $13,244. ii. The Groovin at the Grove sessions continue to receive good reviews. Unfortunately, this year two of the three events were plagued by bad weather. iii. With summer winding-down, the Grove will be closed and winterized in the upcoming weeks. iv. Upcoming fundraising events for the remainder of the year include: 1. Potato pancake breakfast and associated bake sale (September 24). 2. Meat Raffle (November 4). 3. The Ladies Auxiliary s Basket Party (November 5). 4. The baking and selling of holiday treats (December). 5. The selling of donated cookies in cookie trays (December). 6. A pig in the blanket and haluski sale (December 9). 1 P a g e
v. A RestFest collection was taken-up in the parish in the hopes of regaining some of the revenue lost by skipping EthnicFest this year. As of this meeting, $2,838 were donated. In speaking with those who habitually work long hours at EthnicFest, most people seemed to enjoy the break they had this year. vi. This committee continues to explore ways of gaining revenue, but in ways that are not labor intensive. One suggestion made was to sponsor a music festival. b. Communications i. Father George has not heard back from the IT department of the diocese regarding gaining help with the platform that supports the parish s web site. George Pisula has concerns about the long-term viability of our current site. ii. Father George and Dawn Rager continue to be the individuals who keep the parish s Facebook page current. c. Education i. No meeting was held this month. ii. For the first adult religious education session, with sessions scheduled for the third Sunday of each month, attendance was sparse with only three people attending. Nonetheless, classes will continue to see if interest increases. iii. The book reviews will continue into the spring, even though attendance isn t great. To help keep interest, it was decided to review and discuss each book for only one night. iv. The parish will have one adult and two children for the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA), which will culminate with the Easter Vigil next year. Father George has ordered books for the program. He also has assembled a RCIA team and has had an orientation meeting with them. v. The parish s Religious Education Program appears to be running well without any serious issues. vi. A meeting was held with the students preparing for Confirmation along with their parents. vii. Although no date has yet been set for the Advent Retreat, Brian Ahlstrom has tentatively volunteered to prepare the content materials for this event. 2 P a g e
d. Parish Family Life i. During the blood screening being held on September 23, a Caregiver s Information Station will be in place. ii. The Men s Club has their next meeting scheduled for September 25. iii. A Covered Dish dinner is planned for Saturday, September 30 after the 4:00 PM Mass. iv. Plans are moving forward to develop a parish photo directory. Lifetouch Photography is the firm coordinating this project in conjunction with Parish Family Life Committee. Photo sessions will take place during two time slots: November 14 18 and December 1 2. Scheduling of photography will take place at the weekend Masses in early October; on-line scheduling will also be available. Family members, friends, and pets are also welcome to be photographed. The participants of each photo session are entitled to one complementary parish directory and one, 8 x 10 photograph. v. The Children s Christmas Party will take place on Saturday, December 16 from 1:00 3:00 PM in the church hall. vi. The Celebration of Marriage is scheduled for Saturday, February 3, 2018. vii. In commemoration of Columbus Day, the Knights of Columbus will host a coffee, juice, and donuts social after the Masses on Sunday, October 8. e. Liturgy i. Since Father George will be out-of-town on the Feast of St. Francis, October 4, Deacon Sam will be asked to do the blessing of animals. This year we will also be accepting donations for the Humane Society. ii. After contemplating a previous decision to have a cemetery Mass on All Souls Day (November 2), that decision was reversed. Poor attendance, along with the uncertainty of good weather, led to this conclusion. iii. The final Fatima devotion will occur on Friday, October 13. iv. A Memorial Mass will be held on the evening of All Souls Day at 6:30 PM in the church. Those who passed during the last year will be remembered at this Mass. The Bereavement Committee members will handle the details for this Mass. 3 P a g e
v. Since Veteran s Day falls on a Saturday this year, an anticipated Mass will occur on Friday, November 10 at 6:30 PM. Having the Mass a day early will allow our veterans to attend Mass and also participate in the civil activities the following morning. The Knights of Columbus will host a cake and ice cream social after the Mass. An evening Mass for veterans on Veteran s Day was transferred, since it would conflict with the Mass for the 32 nd Sunday in Ordinary Time. vi. The Thanksgiving Day Mass will occur at 9:00 AM. The collection of food and the distribution of fruit will occur at this Mass. vii. We are still hoping to add figures to the parish s nativity set. It is a Thomas Kinkade set, and as of yet, we have not been successful finding any pieces. viii. Since the Fourth Sunday of Advent falls on Christmas Eve, decorating the church for Christmas will take place during the Third Week of Advent. ix. The tentative schedule for Christmas Masses is 4:00 PM (anticipated), midnight, and 9:00 AM. However, since Christmas Eve falls on the Fourth Sunday of Advent, it is possible that the diocese may issue other directives. The morning Masses for the Fourth Sunday of Advent will remain unchanged. x. For the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God (Monday, January 1), there will only be a 9:00 AM morning Mass. Since this holy day will fall on a Monday next year, it loses its obligation. xi. To help compensate for the dwindling number of altar servers, it was suggested to encourage families to minister as a group. Initiating this process will take some time and much effort. xii. Upcoming diocesan events include: 1. Family Life Conference September 30 2. Marian Celebration October 1 3. Shroud of Turin Presentation October 29 More details about these events are contained in an addendum. xiii. Once again this year, we will encourage families to bring ornaments to the church to decorate a family Christmas tree. More details will follow in the bulletin helping parishioners to better understand this project. 4 P a g e
f. Properties and Maintenance i. Laurel Paving has been awarded the contract to repair the cracks and seal the parking lot at the parish center. ii. Work is in progress to change the incandescent and fluorescent lighting over to LED. Adding additional lighting to the side altars is also being explored. The question was asked if lighting could be added to the alcove housing the statue of the Sacred Heart. It would help balance out the sanctuary area, matching the lighting in the opposite alcove that contains the image of the Risen Lord. iii. All the church doors have been painted red. The window trim will be painted the same color sometime in the upcoming spring. iv. No Community Block Grant money is available this year for repairs to the Fourth Avenue sidewalk. We will apply again next year. Part of the complexity and expense of this ongoing project relates to adhering to all of Penndot s guidelines. v. A façade has been added in the church hall to improve the appearance of the egress leading to the alley behind the church. The next step in this project will be to move the altar servers garb from their current storage in the hall up to the work sacristy. This move will provide for more storage area in the hall. vi. On October 9, Boy Scout troop 622 is scheduled to assist in helping to complete the project of moving and securing the loose pews that remain unfastened to the floor in the church. vii. Matt Salem of Boy Scout Troop 622 has submitted an Eagle Scout project to be considered. His project entails building a fire pit at the Grove. Rick Pavic will do the scope work for this project. viii. Logan Gagan, a parishioner and a member of Boy Scout troop 622, has also submitted an Eagle Scout project for review. He would like to pour a foundation and then place the statue of Mary from Immaculate Conception parish in the garden area outside of the parish center. Ben Gagan will do the scope of work for this project. ix. The upper stage at the Grove (where the choir is located for Mass) has a hole in its roof. Roof repair needs to be slated for the spring. x. It was mentioned that the canopy at the Oratory needs to be assessed for potential issues. xi. Some discussion centered on who will have the responsibility of dealing with cars that become locked in the Chestnut Street parking 5 P a g e
lot. Father George said that since he lives the closest, he would deal with situations that arise. g. Youth i. No report. ii. The Council is still seeking a youth representative or representatives to fill this vacancy. h. Cemetery i. No meeting was held. i. Finances i. No meeting was held. VI. VII. VIII. IX. Comments from the Parishioners: a. The plan of the diocese of Pittsburgh to merge 182 parishes into 48 was mentioned and discussed. b. Comments were made concerning what type of garb our altar servers should be wearing. Additionally, if we transition to families serving, how will that move affect our dress code. c. Some concern was raised about the building of a fire pit at the Grove. Will the pit pose a safety concern? d. A question was asked why Resurrection church wasn t opened for tours on the Friday of Ethnic Fest. The reason was that it was First Friday and that Eucharistic Adoration was taking place at the Oratory. Because of the adoration, Father wasn t available to be at the church. Father George was also complemented for the way he interacted with people during Ethnic Fest. Old Business: i. None Comments from the Parishioners: i. None New Business: i. Father George mentioned that Dan Amrhein has been hired as a fulltime maintenance man. 6 P a g e
ii. The Pastoral Council and Finance Council Christmas gathering will be scheduled for sometime in January. Further discussion will take place at the November meeting. X. Comments from the Parishioners: a. None XI. XII. Pastor s Closing Comments: a. None Adjournment and Blessing: a. At 8:36 PM the meeting was adjourned. The meeting concluded with the Council reciting the Doxology after which Father George bestowed his blessing. Upcoming Pastoral Council Meeting Tuesday, November 21, 2017 at 7:30 PM* Upcoming Standing Committee Meetings Tuesday, November 21, 2017 at 6:15 PM* Submitted by George G. Pisula Recording Secretary 7 P a g e
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